the no-name project: cupcakes

still no name for this project that i've decided to take on, so i'm just gonna call it "the no-name project". yesterday was day 1 with baking up first...i made applesauce & cinnamon cupcakes from the book 500 cupcakes. it was the second recipe that i tried from the book and so far, i'm not terribly pleased with the recipes so i'm very glad that it's a library book. i'll give it another chance over the next 2 weeks, but so far i'm not impressed. 

 

 i got everything together and had to make just one little change...i omitted the chopped nuts and simply doubled the raisins. side note about raisins, they are very sticky when being cut into smaller pieces. while getting everything measured out i realized, after opening the box of extra fine sugar, that there's a little spout on the side that you can use for pouring...oh well, i always miss things like that. it was a very easy recipe to follow and came together quickly, so no drama there...really no drama with any of it which was good! i scooped the mixture into the muffin pan using my handy-dandy batter scoop (i love that thing!) and topped each one with apple slices and a little bit of sugar. it was the first time i ever baked apples on top of something so i was a little skeptical as to how that was going to turn out.

 i popped them in the oven for 12 minutes, then turned the pan and continued baking for another 12 minutes. (little trick i learned from good eats: rotate the pan half way through so everything is baked more evenly). turns out that 24 minutes was probably a little too long since the edges got a little darker than i would have liked...not burnt, just dark! i let them cool as directed for 5 minutes in the pan before taking them out and placing them on the cooling rack.

 

the finished cupcakes

 

 stephen and i are the only ones who have eaten any of the cupcakes, which i would really classify as muffins since cupcakes have frosting and these don't! of course i'm not terribly surprised that luke didn't want to have any since he's not a cake/cupcake type person and jordan just didn't seem interested at all. they tasted alright, nothing terribly exciting and while it suggested they are best served warm they seem just fine non-warmed up. 

so day one went well, no drama or accidents, and my lesson learned was to always check boxes for pour spouts before opening the top! not sure what to bake today, but something in the bread family to go with dinner tonight. stay tuned for those results either tonight or tomorrow...just depends on how my day goes as to whether it'll be tonight.

 

   
and here's the latest painting i made to hang in our powder room. it's not great but i like it and that's really what counts!